ABSTRACT
The American War was widely considered to be a national disaster. Despite the considerable taxation and debt burdens produced by the American war, William Pitt's government committed itself to restocking the navy during the 1780s. The Navigation Act was one of many issues which preserved glacial diplomatic relations between Britain and the USA after 1783. Britain remained as isolated, though diplomatically of more weight, in 1793 as in 1783. Britain's signature to the Treaty of Versailles helped to restore its diplomatic standing to a level not enjoyed since the early 1760s. Fear of Russian expansionism would dog and pervert British foreign policy for much of the nineteenth century. American protection in the late 1780s and early 1790s acted only as a minor irritant, though tariffs were used to exercise political leverage on Britain as well as to rectify an alarming trade deficit.
